Fitness Tips for Desk Job Employees

You: Office worker sitting behind a computer all day long. Do you feel like it is just taking its toll on you? Well, it could possibly be killing you.

According to a recent study published by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine “The public health burden of prolonged sitting is real. Accounting for 3.8% of all-cause mortality in this study, sitting is shortening the lives of people across the world. The present findings support the importance of promoting active lifestyles (more physical activity and less sitting) as an important aspect for premature mortality prevention worldwide, and therefore the need for global action to reduce this risk factor.”

What does that mean for you if you work 8 hours a day at a desk? You have to counteract all that desk time during the day and make sure you move around a stretch every few hours. Reducing sitting time by as much as possible every day should be priority #1. You may also feel the sudden jolt of energy that comes over you soon after you get that blood flowing through the body again post movement.

We have come up with a short list of tips to help you get up and get moving even in the tightest of places and times.*unless noted, perform all exercises for 5-8 reps and complete 2-3 sets. Add any 2-4 exercises for a session at minimum that can be completed in less than 5 minutes.

EXERCISES:

Prisoner Squat -lock fingers behind head and squat until thighs parallel to floor and up.

As far as stretching goes, hold each for 30 seconds, and repeat 1-2x before moving to next side or stretch. While at work, try to stretch mid morning and sometime during your afternoon lull for a quick pick me up.

STRETCHES:

Warrior Pose – make sure to really get into the hip flexor and side body

This is far from a complete list, but will hopefully give you enough info to at least get started and find what works best for you. The sooner you implement the better, so next work break, take a few minutes, move around a bit and notice the difference in how you feel.

If you are already moving and stretching around during work, what kind of things did we leave off that are useful?

“Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all”

2 Comments:

I used to have an app that would go off once an hour to remind me to stand! It was really helpful. But, eventually I just decided to get a standing desk 🙂 I still try to take a break and go walk around a bit. Taking breaks definitely helps me stay in my designing groove 🙂